


Failure

by DarkMage13



Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, Female Human Mesmer Pact Commander, Heavy Angst, Male Human Thief Order of Shadows Agent, Minor OC/OC shipping if you squint, Third Person POV from Human Thief's Perspective on the Commander, heavy spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 00:49:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14124543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMage13/pseuds/DarkMage13
Summary: Agent Axis of the Order of Shadows had only failed two missions in his career with the Order. Failure was not an option, not to him.Yet when he chronicled the story of the Pact Commander, somehow he felt it his duty to protect the one person who could save them, save Elona, save the world. But he couldn't protect everything, nor everyone.(Heavy Spoilers for all of Guild Wars 2 story up to "The Departing" mission in Path of Fire.)





	Failure

**Author's Note:**

> The characters used in this story (Axis, Megara, and Nephthys) are my own in-game characters.

The first time Axis failed a mission was when he was 17 years old. A fresh faced new recruit of the Order of Shadows, his second mission, a simple escort, had gone awry.

Escort the sunspear warrior from Amnoon to a safe Order haven, was his only order he took without question. Axis knew the sunspears were hunted without mercy. He watched from the shadows as the sunspear with her caravan marched up north. Moving under the cover of night, his cloak of stealth weaving an invisible silhouette together, his keen eyes watched the sunspear. Lines of age wore down on her face. Her greatsword was on her back, a tarnished golden blade. She was almost hunched over from the weight of such a great blade.

The dolyak with her made a noise of discontentment. Axis' ears twitched as he scanned the area from behind a bush for any of the approaching enemies.

An ambush he caught too late. A group of Awakened leapt down from the cliffs and bum rushed the sunspear.

Her throat was sliced in seconds. A rage took control of the 17 year old and he leapt up from behind the bush, still under the cover of his cloak of stealth and one by one stabbed in the back of every single one of Joko's minions.

Out of breath, Axis could only stare at the lifeless corpse of the sunspear veteran. Tears brimmed his eyes as his heart pounded. Kito, his mentor appeared from behind the shadows, along with other agents who were to aid him in his mission, but he was supposed to be the first responder. Wordlessly, Kito tended to the body.

Axis' words choked him. He had failed. And in his anger he unleashed all his malice upon the Awakened who caused this tragedy, earning him the nickname "Axis the Malice."

That failure haunted him to the day, but years passed, he was 24 now. He was a full agent of the Order of Shadows. His second failure however, was much worse than he could possibly fathom.

For years he was put in charge of the most important reports from Tyria, book keeping on top of missions to influence events and stability in the reign of Palawa Joko. He got reports of the Pact, starting with the Assault on Claw Island. This report was stolen from the Order of Whispers, who banded together with the Vigil and the Priory. Then the one report came in, the one detailing the dragon slayer, Megara, who had slain Zhaitan along with her comrades. The Order of Shadows assigned him to bookkeep the records of her, the dragon slayer, the Light in the Darkness, as some called her.

Then Scarlet Briar began a crusade across Tyria, forcing people to live in terror for one year. Axis had to laugh at the irony. If only Elona wasn't in constant terror from Joko like it was in Tyria. A dragon was slain, that was nothing more than a force of nature. But Joko was no force of nature.

Axis considered leaving the Order several times over, he wasn't much of a person to sit idly by while others suffered, but he obeyed. He held secrets, many of them within him. Liked it or not he was bound to the Order possibly for life.

Megara had killed Scarlet and ended her reign of terror. He had to admire this woman's bravery and benevolence. She killed a dragon, yet a rogue sylvari was not beneath her. How many heroes had he heard tales from who refused to aid those who cannot help themselves? Far too many. He felt he was better off always on the run with the Sunspear Order.

Then in a shock, the Pact was destroyed. Megara had travelled to the heart of the Maguuma jungle and slain Mordremoth. Upon this report Axis was blown away. Two Elder Dragons killed by the same person? Just who was this woman? He grew some admiration for her, she seemed unstoppable.

Then some strange things occurred. The rise of the White Mantle and the downfall of its High Confessor Caudecus and other remaining members. High Inquisitor Xera, considered one of the most powerful mesmers next to Queen Jennah of Kryta, was slain by Megara. It was at this point Axis learned she was a mesmer, a rather powerful one. At this point he wondered, with the Queen and her bodyguard, and the hero of Tyria being mesmers, if one day they would rule the world.

A most peculiar report came in; one detailing the return of a Mursaat named Lazarus the Dire. The Mursaat were extinct, and the records they had collected about Xera's experiments and splinter faction of the White Mantle didn't line up with the living Mursaat. Axis thought nothing of it.

Then began his greatest failure.

It began with the reports of the War God, Balthazar, having returned to the world. Balthazar had disguised himself as Lazarus. He was in Tyria, but reports soon flooded in that he was moving south, toward Elona. Kito, his friend and comrade, came to him.

"I have a feeling…" Kito said, his eyes lingering on the map before him.

"A feeling of what?" Axis asked, kicking up his leg onto his other knee.

"The Commander, the Hero of Tyria will follow Balthazar here. Be sure to dig up any dirt we have on her. If we want her under our control we need something, anything on her."

Kito left Axis to his work. He went digging into records of the past few years, but nothing seemed to be blackmail worthy. She helped the sick, protected the helpless, fought for a good cause, and of course, slain two dragons and was in pursuit of a war god. Did this woman ever rest? She must be all powerful and brave to do such things.

He knew the tales of the warmongering Balthazar, but he was extremely baffled by how from the reports he had seen, the War God had gone rogue. Betrayed the world, betrayed humanity.

Kito appeared two days later. "The Master of Shadows has spoken. You and I are to be her retainers."

The Hero of Tyria was a dog needed to be put on a leash. Axis felt a great deal of respect for this woman and had a secret desire to meet her. His stomach leapt at this new assignment. A chance to meet the Hero he's heard all about.

He tossed off the order uniform into his own black and red clothing. Kito rose an eye at this, but said nothing. Axis wanted nothing more than to distance himself from the underhanded games the Order played. He hid himself in the shadows of Amnoon's market, and then he spotted her, the Commander, the Light in the Darkness.

He expected nothing less and yet he expected more. She was a small woman, at least several inches shorter than him. Her brown hair fluttered in the desert wind, the feathers on her armor flowing like a cape down her back. Her gauntlets, shoulders, and boots shined with imbued crystal shards protecting her. Her armor was literal magic. She carried a shield with...a much nicer looking choya inside of it; it was living there, in a tank of water. In her hand was a black elegant sword that glowed even in the daylight. A mesmer no doubt. He had heard of that type of mesmer subset she was, a manipulator of time and space, a chronomancer. He had never seen a chronomancer ever in his life, all he saw were mirage mesmers in these parts.

She travelled from the city to the villages on the outskirts of the Oasis, in hot pursuit of Balthazar. Compelled to speak with this hero of a person, Axis appeared before her as she rested by a watering hole.

"I am here to test you, Commander," he spoke, his face obscured by wrappings. She glared and pulled out her sword and shield.

"Bring it," she answered his words.

A wave from her shield paralyzed him in place, as if time stopped on him. Freed, his staff, an ancient Canthan artifact, allowed him to leap forward and slam down in the sand, pushing her back into the water. He leapt forward again, vaulting into the water, but her magical shield blocked his advance, pushing him back. Now he was being assaulted by a clone of her...Three clones from which he could not discern the real Megara from. He lifted his stave again and swiped at all of them in an attempt to find the real one, only to find himself pushed down into the water by her foot. She had blinked behind him in the midst of distraction by her clones. Face in the water, he held his breath and forced himself to backflip out of the water. She lifted her sword and it collided with his stave. Easily he overpowered her in raw strength, until she tossed her weapons away in favor of the one on her back. The greatsword was the legendary Eternity, a blade made to channel the powers of both the day and the night. She had no strength to wield it like any other warrior, but instead used it as a channeling focus. She unleashed a wave and pushed him back in the sand. A beam of purple light blasted him, he having to spin his bo staff like mad trying to parry the beam.

How was he to beat possibly the strongest mesmer in the world? Fight fire with fire. Axis threw himself into stealth, his specialty, and once he was positioned right in front of her, he knocked her on her back and pointed his stave at her.

"I bested you, chronomancer," he declared.

"I hate thieves…" she mumbled.

Was she actually pouting at her loss? Now that he thought about it, how old exactly was this woman? He expected someone much older...and mature. Her face looked so young, but she did carry the expression of someone who had seen many disturbing things.

"Who are you?" she questioned. He took off his head wrappings, revealing his face. She seemed surprised at his appearance. He wasn't Elonian. Even she had expectations of him. He always got weird looks, even as a child. He was Canthan.

"I'm Agent Axis of the Order of Shadows," he answered. "You're not what I expected, Commander Megara." He held out his hand to her and she took it, standing up.

"What did you expect? Please, I'm dying to know." Her sarcasm bites.

"Someone who could best a thief in singular combat."

"I wasn't exactly prepared for that, you know. Besides...I could never really best thieves very much."

"The dragon slayer bested by thieves? How peculiar," he hummed, smirking at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Anything else you didn't expect, Axis?"

"I expected you to be...older."

She raised an eyebrow. "What does my age appear to you as exactly? It's not like you look much older than me. I'm 21."

His jaw almost dropped. She was only 18 years old when she killed Zhaitan. "I'm 24."

"Hmm clearly you're just as much of a kid as I am then. Clearly your expectations failed you."

"How was I supposed to know?"

"You guys are a splinter faction of the Order of Whispers; I thought you would know every little detail about me." She turned on her heel and marched off. "It's not like the Commander ever gets any privacy anymore."

His chances were fleeting. "Wait a minute, wait up!"

But she turned invisible. Two could play at that game.

Finding the commander was a lot harder than he thought. Once he heard whispers of a scary charr and a prickly cactus person ransacking a Forged camp, he knew he was hot on her trail.

He found her in a camp near Augury Rock. "Commander Megara wait," he appeared from his cloak of stealth and grabbed her wrist.

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Oh, you again."

"I want to help you," he pleaded to her. "I want to aid you in finding Balthazar and stopping him."

Her glared softened. "You do? Hm, and here I thought the Order of Shadows didn't want much to do with me except make me into a puppet of theirs."

How astute of her. "Where did you get that idea?"

She yanked her hand away. "You lot give off an air of aloofness. I've seen this before, from the Order of Whispers. But yet the Order of Shadows feels...Off to me."

A kindred spirit then. "I am just here to complete the task we have at hand. I will be there, in the shadows, as I always am. But is there anything you need?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "I need to find Kesho, the Lost City."

"Consider it done then."

He vanished under his cloak, seeking out information across the Elon Riverlands.

His pulse raced when he followed her towards a hidden pit. She wasn't really going to jump down there, was she? She hopped on her springer and jumped down. He would have chased after her but he knew his orders. He sat at the entrance waiting under the stars for her to return from the pit. He hated this compliance. He could talk to her and even aid her, but he could not interfere much more than little bread crumbs. He hated this. Subtle influence felt wrong to him. He wanted to make a difference, and yet, ever since he lost that sunspear all those years ago, he felt he made none.

She eventually emerged from the pit at sunrise. He looked over her, scorch marks and sand covered her, but no injuries.

"Tell the others to meet me at Skimhallow," she said out loud to her communicator, where a high pitched girl's' voice answered back.

Ah yes the voice that is riding around in her backpack. A mouthy asura genius who invented a device to keep in touch with Megara.

She ascended a scaffolding up on a tall rock, trying to get a signal. Kito joined Axis under his cloak of stealth.

"Anything on Kesho?"

"We'll have to ask her once she's done talking with the voice in her backpack," Axis said, following her up the rock at the Skimhallow.

She was at the very top when a ring of flame appeared around the area, blocking the two agents out. From flames in the ground appeared the god of war himself, Balthazar.

Fear rose in his heart. She was alone.

"Balthazar!" she exclaimed, drawing her dual blades.

"Expecting someone else?" his voice boomed across the ring. He had come to finish the job he had first attempted when Vlast the Dragon got in the way. Balthazar wanted her dead, very dead.

Axis wanted to do something, but he could not interfere, not with Kito there, not with this ring of fire. He tried to calm his thoughts. She was the Dragon Slayer, the Hero of Tyria, the Light in the Darkness. She could best Balthazar, right?

But then he remembered, she wasn't entirely too good with being ambushed.

"What's this, your little friends abandoned you?" Balthazar mocked, shooting orange and purple flames at her, she dodged with ease.

A lump formed in Axis' throat.

"What do you say we take things a little more slowly this time?" Balthazar asked, raising his greatsword telepathically to swipe her. She pulled out her shield and blocked the attack with ease, deflecting it back. She teleported behind him, raising her shield again to form a protective bubble. He swiped at her again. He was making this way too easy and easily telegraphed. She glared him down, a look of pure determination and absence of fear etched across her face. How does one look a god in the eyes and not bow to their whims?

She unleashed a barrage of swordsman phantasms upon him, from which he created a fiery shield and blasted them back. "Never defy a god!" he roared. Orbs of fire shot down from the skies above. She leapt back, pulling out Eternity and channeling a beam of light at the god. Three berserker phantasms appeared, spinning right through the legs of the towering Balthazar.

She put away her greatsword and pulled out her one handed sword, the Shining Blade, and leapt at him as his back was turned to deal with the barrage of phantasms. Another shield of fire appeared and forced her onto her back. She winced in pain but immediately stood back up. Balthazar turned and leapt up and slammed his fist into the ground. A spike of a hot flaming sword shot out of the ground right into her body, his insignia appearing beneath her feet. When it went back under it slammed her to the ground. She cried out in agony.

"Suffer you little mortal! Cry out so everyone can hear you!" Balthazar sneered.

Axis became desperate. That move right there did some monumental damage to her. But still she got up, ready to continue fighting. She limped forward, breath ragged. She summoned more phantasms with her sword, throwing down a well that gave her some protection. Balthazar began raining down meteors on the area. Axis reached out to the flaming wall and recoiled at its extreme heat.

"Don't even think about interfering," Kito said. "You'll get yourself killed and we need to see how powerful this guy is."

Kito was willing to let her die to further the Order's plans.

She was still fighting him when a meteor stuck her. Her legs were on fire and her cries were silent.

"Oh no, we're not done yet," Balthazar declared, raising her back up with some of her wounds just barely healed enough to keep fighting. "Get up and fight me."

Why would he heal her? Didn't he want her dead? Axis so desperately wanted to jump in there, forget his own safety, until it clicked. Balthazar was tormenting her for his own pleasure. Revel in her pain before he finished the job.

She with a battle cry charged at the god with her sword, blurring into a frenzy of strikes.

The god laughed at the pathetic mortal's attempts to strike him down. "Excellent. We're not finished yet."

"What is your gain Balthazar?!" she wailed.

"I do enjoy these little get togethers," he mused in response.

She gritted her teeth. "You relish in people's suffering far too much. What is your gain?!"

He didn't answer, only with a smirk as he swiped his sword at her again. She lifted the Shining Blade to block it, but the force of such wipe shoved her back into a rock. She forced herself forward, struggling to keep fighting.

Kito glared at Axis as he tried to move to do something. Anything. But he had his orders.

Balthazar slammed his fist into the ground, another fiery sword bursting forth from the ground to wound her body once again. Ear-splitting screams erupted from her throat.

"You're proving to be quite useful," Balthazar said.

The ring around them formed a hot ground, expanding inwards and outwards, forcing the two agents to step back or be seared. Axis was so desperate to do something but he could not do anything without being caught on fire by this point.

Megara sent out another barrage of phantasms as she coughed through the magical maelstrom of flames. She struggled to move to safety, the flaming ground enclosing on her. "Listen, I don't want to kill you," she said, dodging feebly out of the way of another meteor.

Balthazar took this opportunity to slam his fist down into the ground again to permanently and magically injure her. The impact of the strike forced her weapons out of her grip. "You won't."

The pain choked her words. She could hardly breathe; the pounding of blood and heart the only thing she could hear anymore.

"How sad of you to die so far away from home," the war god said, approaching her.

Axis could not stand by anymore. He rushed into the fire with his cloak of stealth still on. The heat was so intense, but he had to get through, he had to get through the wall. He grabbed his bo staff and vaulted over the wall, but he was not completely unharmed. He landed face first, the magical flames draining him of all his energy. Still in stealth, he was helpless to move and stop the scene before him.

The war god turned to look at something. "Ah, the scion...come to defend her champion."

Her eyes half lidded, Megara noticed out of the sky came Aurene, the baby dragon. Axis stared, eyes wide. Balthazar knew she was one of Aurene's chosen. He used her to get to Aurene.

Shock moved Megara to form words. "Aurene, no…"

The innocent baby dragon attacked Balthazar with a gust of blue flame, trying to land to heal her champion. Balthazar shot out an orange orb at the dragon, but she easily dodged it. She blew fire out of her mouth to damage Balthazar but he deflected it with ease.

Megara's heart pounded, her mind slipping in and out of focus. Her nerves felt numb. All she could think of in that moment was how to save Aurene.

Balthazar had immobilized and captured the baby dragon. Aurene cried to her champion; Megara struggling to move.

The war god, having gotten his goal, turned to Megara. She had only enough strength to look into his inhuman eyes.

"And now, you die."

"No!" Axis shouted. Aurene let out a whine.

Balthazar charged up another orb of flame and shot it right at Megara, the magical fire destroying any life left in her.

She collapsed on her side, her breathing ceased, her heart stopped beating, her nerves numb, her hearing gone, her eyes seeing only black.

The Light in the Darkness was dead.

Balthazar immediately left with Aurene in tow. The ring of flames dissipated immediately. Not a single trace of the war god was left except for the corpse of the Commander.

Axis, having regained his energy, immediately ran to her side. He felt numb. The guilt crashed over him. He felt no rage, only sorrow. The one chance they had at fighting the rogue god was dead, played with until she was finally finished off. He lifted her up by the shoulders. Her head was limp against his arm.

"I failed you, Megara. I failed...I failed…I failed." He should have disobeyed and saved her, consequences be damned. He didn't care if Kito was watching, he didn't care. He looked up and chronicled this woman's journey and it met a bitter end by his hands. If only…If only…

Her friends and comrades arrived via airship. The sunspear scourge, Nephthys, could only wordless stare at the weeping shadows agent.

"Is she…" the woman asked.

"She's dead," he choked out. "Commander Megara, Hero of Tyria, the Light in the Darkness, is dead."

"What? She's dead?!" Taimi, the voice inside Megara's tossed away backpack, exclaimed.

Kasmeer, a fellow mesmer to the commander, looked away. "Oh gods," she sobbed.

Kuria, a tiny guardian, Rytlock the menacing charr, and Canach a prickly cactus man, only stood in silence in respect for their fallen comrade.

Axis shed tears for her. "I failed."


End file.
